Flemington

25 To join these illustrious names of the sport of eventing at just 28 years of age is remarkable, especially as Hazel, who was brought up in Far North Queensland, did not start seriously competing in eventing until the age of 17. Evenmore remarkable is that her equine partner in this feat, Australian thoroughbred Willingapark Clifford, was bred to race and ended up with Hazel by sheer luck. Cliffordwas bred by Tasmanian Sue Devereaux in 2005, who ‘dabbled’ in breeding thoroughbreds and racing them, but Clifford’s heart was not in it. He dawdled out of the trial barriers and his laid-back attitude gave Sue the distinct impression that racing was not for him. So he was sent to Sue’s sister, Wendy Ward in NSWwho just happened to live next door to one of Australia’s equestrian Olympians and elite coach Heath Ryan. In 2010, Hazel had also arrived at Heath’s training facility, Ryans at Newcastle, to pursue her passions of horses and eventing. Her passion was born from tales her English mum Melanie told of the great English events including Badminton and Burghley Horse Trials. “Clifford popped into my life when I was asked by Heath to work ‘the thoroughbred in Wendy’s back paddock’. He was by no means a spectacular looking horse so everyone else was avoiding riding him,” laughs Hazel. “But I hadn’t been working for Heath for very long and I didn’t have any horses of my own, so I jumped at the opportunity. Thank god I did!” In 2012, the pair started competing at international level competition in Australia with their first win in 2014 but their performances generally went under the radar, until an impressive winning streak in 2016 culminated in their first CCI4* (now 5*) win at the Aus3DE. The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) changed the rating of competitions in 2019, so that the highest level of international eventing competitions changed from CCI4* to CCI5*. There are only seven CCI5* competitions per year: Badminton Horse Trials (GB), Burghley Horse Trials (GB), Kentucky Three Day Event (USA), Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), Maryland 5 Star (USA) and the Australian International 3 Day Event (AUS). The Olympic Games and FEI World Equestrian Games exist in their own special category. Dressage and show jumping are held at the CCI5* level while cross-country is shorter and designed at the CCI4* level of difficulty to make the sport more accessible for countries where the sport is less established.